Sunday 22 April 2012

leeyahay/lahaa (Present and past tense)

Buug baan leeyahay - I have a book
Buug baan lahaa - I had a book


Baabuur baad leedahay - You have a car
Baabuur baad lahayd - You had a car


Lacag buu leeyahay - He has some money
Lacag buu lahaa - He had some money


Qoys bey leedahay - She has a family
Qoys bey lahayd - She had a family


Dhaqan baannu leenahay - We have a culture
Dhaqan baannu lahayn - We had a culture


Dhibaato baad leedihiin - You(pl) have a problem
Dhibaato baad lahaydeen - You(pl) had a problem


Cilmi bey leeyihiin - They have knowledge
Cilmi bey lahaayeen - They had knowledge

Saturday 21 April 2012

Haddadan - just now

'Haddadan' means 'just now; just a moment ago',


Haddadan baan trainka soo fulay - I've just got on the train
Haddadan baan ku arkay - I saw you just a moment ago
Haddadan telefoonka baa dhacayay - The phone was ringing just now
Haddadan albaabka la garaacayay - Someone was knocking at the door a moment ago (Lit: 'The door was being knocked')

Another useful phrase that is similar is 'mar dhoweyd'. However, 'haddadan' means 'just a few seconds/minutes ago' whereas 'mar dhoweyd' could mean a little longer than that. 

Saturday 14 April 2012

Article translation

A translation of a short article that appeared on the BBC News website


Burcad ay qabteen ciidanka Denmark 
The Danish military has captured pirates


Ciidanka badda ee Danishka ayaa sheegay inay joojiyeen doon burcad ay leedahay xeebta Soomaaliya agteeda.

Danish naval forces have said that they have stopped would-be pirates near the Somali coastline.


Waxay ciidanka sheegeen inay xireen lix iyo toban burcad Soomaali iyo inay badbaadiyeen kow iyo toban qof oo u dhashay Iran iyo Pakistan.

The soldiers said that they have arrested 16 Somali pirates and safeguarded 11 people from Iran and Pakistan.

Warbixin ay soo saareen ciidanka ayaa sheegtay in aan qofna ku dhaawacmin howlgalka.

In a statement, they said that no one was injured in the operation.

Baarayaasha ayaa isku dayaya siday u dacwayn lahaayeen burcada la tuhunsanyahay oo doonta kaluumaysiga afduubay bil ka hor.

Investigators are trying to see how they can bring legal action against the pirates who are suspected of hijacking a fishing boat last month.


Vocab


burcad - bandits/pirates
ciidan(ka) - army 
bad(da) - sea
jooji - to stop
xeeb(ta) - coast, beach
xir - to arrest, lockup, close (a door)
badbaadi - to secure, safeguard
qofna - nobody
dhaawac - to injure, wound
  qofna ku dhaawacmin hawlgalka - no one was injured in the operation
warbixin - a press statement
baare - investigator(plural: baarayaasha)
dacwee - to sue, bring legal action against s.o.
  siday u dacwayn lahayeen - how to bring legal action against ...
doonta kaluumaysiga - a fishing boat
afduub - to hijack, abduct
bil - month

Saturday 7 April 2012

Ardeyda Abaalmarinta - The students' reward

This is a short video about Somali children getting rewards (abaalmarin) for their hard work at school. I have transcribed and translated the introduction.



Munaasabadan way ka soo qaybgaleen qaar ka mid ah mas'uuliyiinta degmada Camden sida duqa degmada, golaha deegaanka, waalidiin, iyo ardeyda wax ka barataa schoolada Camden. Waxaana lagu qabtay isla xaafadan, iyadoo ay ahayd mid abaalmarin lagu guddoonsiineyey ardey gaarisaa 104 oo laga soo guray schoolada degmada Camden.


Offcials from Camden district (of London) participated in this ceremony, such as the district mayor, the local council, parents and students who study at Camden schools. And it was held in the neighbourhood, and it was an occasion where prizes were awarded to as many as 104 students who were gathered from schools across Camden.




Vocab
munaasabad(da) - event, ceremony
qaybgal - to participate
degmo(da) - district
mas'uul - official
ardey(da) - students
la qabtay - to be held
iyadoo  - iyada (she) + oo(while)
  iyadoo ay ahayd - while she/it was
abaalmarin - reward for hard work
guddoonsii - to present/award s.o.
gaaray - to reach
laga soo guray - that were collected from

Wednesday 4 April 2012

Sidoo kale loo yaqaan - A.K.A

'Sidoo kale' means 'In the same way'. You can use it when you want to show that two things/situations are similar. It is a portmanteau of 'sida' and 'oo kale'.




'Sidoo kale loo yaqaan' means 'Also known as'


New York oo sidoo kale loo yaqaan 'The Big Apple' ...
New York, which is also known as 'The Big Apple'...


Monday 2 April 2012

Waxaa laga yaabaa ... (It is possible...)

'Waxaa laga yaabaa' is a set phrase which means 'It's possible'. Combine it with 'in' (that) and you can make sentences such as, 

Waxaa laga yaabaa inaan tegi karaa Baariis - I might be able to go to Paris (lit: 'It is possible that I can go to Paris')


Waxaa laga yaabaa iney yihiin Soomaali - It's possible that they are Somali


Waxaa laga yaabaa baabuurkaasi inuu yahay kayga - It's possible that that car is mine.

Tweets

Some translations of recent tweets from BBC Somali,

BRICS oo sheegay inay samaynayaan bangi

The BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India, China) have said that they are establishing a bank.

Geerida Cabdullaahi Yusuf: Allaha u naxariistee Cabdullaahi Yusuf Axmed wuxuu ku dhashay tuulo ku dhow magaalada Garowe...

The death of Abdillahi Yusuf: God rest his soul Abdillahi Yusuf Ahmed was born in a village close to the city of Garowe... 
 
Burcad badeed lagu wareejiyey Somaliland: Koox burcad badeed Soomaliyeed ah oo ku xirnaa dalka Seychelles ayaa lagu wareejiyey Somaliland

Sea pirates have been handed over to Somaliland: A team of Somali pirates which was held in the Seychelles has been transferred to Somaliland



Vocab


Wuxuu ku dhashay... - He was born in ....
xiran(xirnaa) - to be tied up, to be shut, to be locked up
ku xirnaa... - locked up in ...
ku wareeji - to hand over
igu wareeji - hand it over to me

Sunday 1 April 2012

'in' - making subordinate clauses

There are several ways to make subordinate clauses in Somali. Here I will talk about the easiest.


I want to go to Somalia


I want (Main Clause)    to go to Somalia (Subordinate clause)


To link the two in Somali, use the word 'in'


Waxaan dooneyaa + in(that) + aan(I) + tago(present habitual)  Soomaaliya


'in' roughly corresponds to the English word 'that'. Therefore, literally it means


Waxaan dooneyaa inaan tago Soomaaliya - I want that I go to Somalia


Waxaan dooneyaa inaan baro af Soomaaliga - I want to learn Somali


Waxaan moodeyey inuu tegayo Soomaaliya - I thought he was going to Somalia


'in' is very good when you want to use phrases like,


'I believe that' - Waxaan rumaysnaa in ...

' I think that' - Waxaan fekerayaa in ... 


'I want to' - Waxaan dooneyaa in ...

inaan - that I           iney - that she     inaad - that you(pl)
inaad - that you      inaanu - that we  iney - that they
inuu - that he          ineynu - that we

You can develop this structure further,

Waxaan ku faraxsanahay inaad si amaan ah u gaartay Muqdisho


I am happy that you reached Mogadishu safely



Notice, the verbs 'tago', 'baro', end in 'o'. This is similar to French where,


Autant que je sache (Not 'sais'), 


Just as in French where the verb becomes subjunctif after 'que', in Somali after 'in' the verb ends in 'o', but only if it is originally a present progressive or habitual tense. If it is in past tense, then it remains the same.

Waxaan maqlay inuu tegay Soomaaliya - I heard that he went to Somalia.